From fear to frustration, St. Mary’s Hospital staff confronts another COVID-19 surge
DAVID WAHLBERG
Updated
Like others caring for COVID-19 patients at SSM Health St. Mary's Hospital, respiratory therapist Kristie Reilly is discouraged by the latest coronavirus surge and wishes more people would get vaccinated. "We can't go through this again," said Reilly, shown entering a COVID-19 patient's room in the intensive care unit.
When coronavirus patients flooded hospitals in November and December, nurse Jackie Rehberg worked the COVID-19 unit at SSM Health St. Mary’s Hospital in Madison even as she was concerned about her own health because she was pregnant.
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Nurses Jackie Rehberg, left, and Carly Olson work in the main COVID-19 unit at SSM Health St. Mary's Hospital. During the peak in coronavirus hospitalizations late last year, Rehberg worked while pregnant. After going on maternity leave in May, she returned last month as hospitalizations were going up again. "A lot of people are feeling burned out," she said.
Dr. Doug Hobson, a palliative care specialist at SSM Health St. Mary's Hospital, said many health care workers are angry about the current surge in COVID-19 hospitalizations because much of it could be prevented with higher vaccination rates. “It’s hard to keep this up, knowing that it doesn’t have to be this way," he said.
Staff prepare to rotate a COVID-19 patient in the intensive care unit at SSM Health St. Mary's Hospital. It takes two nurses to rotate a patient, which is done every two hours, and five people to put someone on their stomach, which can prevent fluid from pooling and the heart from pushing on the lungs.
SSM Health St. Mary's Hospital nurse Alex Finch, center, has been working overtime in the short-staffed intensive care unit, where the number of COVID-19 patients is growing again. “You give and you give, and it’s never enough," she said.
Nurse Alex Finch checks the monitors of a COVID-19 patient in the intensive care unit at SSM Health St. Mary's Hospital. The patient, like seven others with COVID-19 in the ICU on Tuesday, was on ventilator.
Like others caring for COVID-19 patients at SSM Health St. Mary's Hospital, respiratory therapist Kristie Reilly is discouraged by the latest coronavirus surge and wishes more people would get vaccinated. "We can't go through this again," said Reilly, shown entering a COVID-19 patient's room in the intensive care unit.
Nurses Jackie Rehberg, left, and Carly Olson work in the main COVID-19 unit at SSM Health St. Mary's Hospital. During the peak in coronavirus hospitalizations late last year, Rehberg worked while pregnant. After going on maternity leave in May, she returned last month as hospitalizations were going up again. "A lot of people are feeling burned out," she said.
Staff prepare to rotate a COVID-19 patient in the intensive care unit at SSM Health St. Mary's Hospital. It takes two nurses to rotate a patient, which is done every two hours, and five people to put someone on their stomach, which can prevent fluid from pooling and the heart from pushing on the lungs.
Dr. Doug Hobson, a palliative care specialist at SSM Health St. Mary's Hospital, said many health care workers are angry about the current surge in COVID-19 hospitalizations because much of it could be prevented with higher vaccination rates. “It’s hard to keep this up, knowing that it doesn’t have to be this way," he said.
SSM Health St. Mary's Hospital nurse Alex Finch, center, has been working overtime in the short-staffed intensive care unit, where the number of COVID-19 patients is growing again. “You give and you give, and it’s never enough," she said.
Nurse Alex Finch checks the monitors of a COVID-19 patient in the intensive care unit at SSM Health St. Mary's Hospital. The patient, like seven others with COVID-19 in the ICU on Tuesday, was on ventilator.
